Here’s a product I’ve been meaning to write about for awhile: the Solar Stik, a robust solar panel mounting system for cruising boats and other applications. The advantages of solar are compelling: less reliance on fossil fuels; less wear and tear on engines being run to generate electricity; quiet and non-polluting energy; and the simplicity of no moving parts. However, panels that produce useful amounts of power need to be pretty big, and deck space is often limited on cruising boats. In Mexico, I’ve seen panels mounted in all kinds of inventive, sometimes precarious ways. The better ones are on arches, hard-top biminis, or davits, where they are generally up and out of the way. Others are cantilevered off of lifelines or held in a spider web of rigging. And some are custom folding brackets that allow panels to be turned toward the sun for maximum power output. The Solar Stik folks have taken the specially designed bracket approach to a new, and welcome height.

The Solar Stik is basically a beefy aluminum spar that mounts vertically, typically like a radar mast on your boat’s stern. It holds two 50 watt BP solar panels on brackets that can be adjusted to face the sun, and also allows them to be folded down to reduce possibilities for damage when appropriate. A matching regulator is included, and wiring running inside the big aluminum tube emerges in a nice weatherproof plug near deck level. The panels can be reasonably expected to generate about 80 amps a day.

The mast can also be used as a mounting point for antennas or a wind generator, and easily accommodates familiar models from Aerogen and Rutland.

All in all, the Solar Stik looks like a nicely worked out system, and an especially effective way to add a reasonable amount of solar power, especially on smaller vessels. Worth a look!